Gloria Álvarez Aguirre¹Consuelo Sánchez Prada¹

This is an initial report on a study which aimed to know what happened at our school, as teachers engaged in a study group to reach general agreements about a common approach to teaching English. The first step consisted of establishing teachers’ and students’ perceptions of their needs through surveys and interviews. Discussion and analyses of the data revealed that the most focused and most favored approach by the group for teaching English is, in our specific context, the communicative approach and the development of the four basic skills using meaningful learning activities. Having agreed on this essential fact, we started the task of discussing some of the main principles of the communicative approach and what is meant by meaningful learning activities.

Key words: Agreement, study group, English-teaching, pedagogical experiences, collaborative work

Éste es un informe inicial de un estudio que buscó develar qué ocurrió en nuestro colegio cuando los profesores participaron en un grupo de estudio para alcanzar acuerdos generales sobre un enfoque común de enseñanza del inglés. El primer paso consistió en establecer las percepciones que los profesores y estudiantes tenían de sus propias necesidades, mediante el uso de encuestas y entrevistas. La posterior discusión y análisis de datos reveló que el enfoque más favorecido por el grupo para la enseñanza del inglés, en nuestro contexto específico, es el comunicativo y el desarrollo de las cuatro habilidades básicas utilizando actividades de aprendizaje significativas. A partir de este primer e importante acuerdo empezamos la discusión de algunos de los más importantes principios del enfoque comunicativo y lo que se entiende por actividades de aprendizaje significativas.

Palabras claves: Acuerdo, grupo de estudio, enseñanza-inglés, experiencias pedagógicas, trabajo colaborativo

THE PROBLEM

Nowadays, international technology and communications require deep knowledge and competence in English. Our students need to understand the importance and real necessity of learning this language for their future studies and jobs. One necessity is to be able to manage the scientific advances and high technology around us. According to students’ academic results analyzed at the last teachers’ meetings, English teachers at school have noticed some difficulties in maintaining students’ interest in learning English. Thus, we realized the necessity to come to an agreement about a common pedagogical approach that meets students’ expectations, improves students’ communicative abilities, and raises students’ performance on the ICFES exam.

That is why we decided to develop a proposal to encourage our colleagues to sit and discuss the best way to teach English. We wanted to carry out a variety of activities and design strategies in an initial attempt to address our main question: What happens at the state school, José Asunción Silva, as teachers engage in a study group to reach general agreements about a common approach to teaching English? Bearing this question in mind, we were convinced we must invite our colleagues to make up this study group to deal with the following questions: How much English can our students learn? How can we continue improving our teaching practices? What are the best types of practice to develop the communicative skills?

CONTEXT

Our school is located in Quirigua, in the northwest of the city, zone 10. The public bus services provide several routes. In front of the school there is a Farmer’s Market whose sanitary conditions are deficient, specially garbage management. Quirigua has a health center that belongs to the PAMI program (Programa de Atención Médica Inmediata) and some other private medical and dentist centers.

The school has about 800 students who belong to the social residential zones one, two, and three.

Their ages are from 11 to 20. They are studying in 6th to 11th grades. Most of them come from a poor socio-cultural environment because their parents just had the chance to complete their elementary studies (46%); secondary studies (34%); and University studies (20%) according to a survey developed by the Orientation Department (PEI, 1998), and they often have some difficulties getting a good job. Many more live in bad financial and family conditions; that is, they present nutritional problems, illnesses, low motivation and self-confidence, signs of solitude, or even, they need to go out to work and take money home or their homes and neighborhoods are quite violent. Nevertheless, a minority of the students (30%) has a better family, financial, and cultural situation. Their views of life and academic behavior tend to be different. They have a house, clothing, food, and enough resources to study efficiently. Observing all of those aspects, we have noticed that the students often have doubts about the relevance of foreign language study; that is a problem, especially nowadays when the technology and communication systems are evolving faster than us. Teachers are responsible for changing that mind.

At the school, we have three English hours a week which are not enough for getting an accurate idea of the teaching-learning process, taking into account that the school’s PEI has an emphasis on English (obviously in theory). In 1995, the community was asked about their academic and labor interests. According to the results, the school directors decided to start the conversion of the school to an institution with a commercial orientation, emphasizing secretarial science and accounting and having computers and English as basic tools (PEI, 1998). But, our reality is different. Here, there is no time for teachers who plan together and share experiences and strategies or who wish to take advantage of the class time and do teamwork. We are five English teachers with different English levels and different communicative abilities. That is why our classes have different criteria. The pedagogical approach is not defined at all. Observing that reality, we decided to develop a project about how language teachers can participate actively in the discussion to establish a common approach to teaching English, taking into account the school resources and the students’ needs and interests. The number of students per group is 40 - 47. One positive point is that the school adapted a room for the English laboratory where we can use the English Discoveries Network software. We also have the possibility to go to the audio-visual room. Those are useful tools for teaching.

LITERATURE REVIEW

What is a Study Group?

The first and maybe the most important aspect is that a study group is composed of a voluntary group of teachers. According to Birchak et al. (1998: 16), “study groups are based on the belief that teachers need to take charge of their own learning and transformation and this belief is violated when they are forced to attend the group”. Secondly, it is important to consider that a study group involves multiple purposes, including a sense of community and a challenge to our thinking as educators.

Based on Murphy and Lick (1998) and Wasserman (1999 cited in Robb, 2000), we can characterize a study group as a small number of individuals joining together to increase their abilities through new learning for the benefit of students. The study group process grows in complexity while its members implement new practices, change behaviors, and demonstrate new skills, knowledge, and activities in the job setting. A study group responds to students’ and teachers’ needs. The teachers must have a theoretical knowledge base and apply it in their daily pedagogical experience. Teachers should be able to make negative and affirmative comments, take decisions, try new strategies, and exchange ideas in the teaching-learning process. In this way, teachers keep informed about the most recent changes in educational research and discuss professional books and articles. Teachers learn by doing, they learn from different kinds of learning experiences students receive and at the same time they improve the students’ learning, the teaching process and enlarge their theoretical base.

How to Create a Study Group?

Below we spell out some guidelines for forming a study group which exemplify the framework on which our project was based. We also describe how we established our particular study group. Concerning time, administrators and teachers need to establish how they use school time. Administrators publish items related to scheduling, visitors, and teachers’ meetings. Teachers can choose one or two forty-five minute periods each month for professional study (Robb, 2000). These meetings should be part of the school schedule as a normal time for the teachers who belong to the group. After the meeting time has been agreed upon, it is important to organize teachers’ and administrators’ responsibilities. Participants in the study group can negotiate their meetings monthly, bimonthly or weekly. They can share learning strategies, professional articles, plan lessons and reflect on teaching and evaluating practices.

METHODOLOGY

We consider our project to be collaborative in which teachers were actively involved in the process development. This type of work has an important role in developing skills and knowledge. Here, teachers work together to validate and support what they are doing (Cambourne, 1988 cited in Robb, 2000). Our reasons for using collaboration were to provide an opportunity for the development of key skills such as communication, group working, and problem solving. Also, we wanted to encourage students’ active learning and to increase their enjoyment of the topics, hence, their desire to learn. We saw collaborative work in the context of the school’s improvement. Our study group took about three months till the end of the in-service program, in which we were enrolled, and the academic year.

After doing the needs analysis and having the first general agreement with teachers about the communicative approach as constituting the main focus to teach English at the school, we saw the teachers’ necessity to know and manage its principal elements and its classroom applications. Then, we decided to hold a workshop with that objective. We presented the English teachers the model of a class applying some of the principles of the communicative approach (micro-teaching). Teachers participated by playing the role of students. In addition, we created a question-answer activity concerning class development. After that, we gave teachers a list of the main communicative approach principles (see Appendix 1) and teachers wrote if they applied them in class or not and gave examples about how they have done it. That was an interesting way to discuss different opinions and points of view.

Needs Analysis

In our group, after considering different aspects to work on, we identified a concrete situation, namely, it was necessary to create a new way of communication among teachers to analyze, discuss, and improve some pedagogical issues in order to have a good impact on the students’ learning process. At this stage, through our participation in the PROFILE in-service program, we realized we needed to foster study group work among our colleagues. Then, teachers signed the consent form in which they were in agreement with their active participation/cooperation. We started designing and applying two different surveys to make a diagnosis of the actual conditions of the English class at the school. We used the survey as the main instrument to collect a lot of information. Moreover, we used a journal to register the events occurred and the decisions taken during the study group meetings. Additionally, we analyzed the information collected using graphs and statements. The first survey was for the students to express an idea about their opinions and necessities related to their English learning. The other one was for our colleagues in order to know what they were doing and how they were developing their lessons (See Appendix 2 and 3).

The results gathered from the surveys and the discussions generated by the teachers allowed us to identify the big themes to be dealt with in our study group. They are shown in the following diagram:

At the same time we analyzed the information about the needs we had, we read and found literature about study groups and meaningful learning to connect theory with practice. We had two meetings per month with teachers of English in order to show them the surveys’ results, discussed some pedagogic issues, and practiced communicative skills in English. After that, we interviewed teachers about the work we had done up to that time and their feelings concerning our study group. With that information we could obtain some conclusions about the project which you will see later in this article.

All of those elements about study groups were the basis of our project development. We desired to take action and move into a reflective gear by exploring and considering possible changes in our teaching practices. We needed to integrate personal experiences and theory.

In addition to evaluating conditions for learning English, as we have mentioned before, our school was in the process of adopting meaningful learning as its main axis for teaching. That was one of the elements we had to consider in the study group if we wanted to find strategies for teaching English. Moreover, we had to revise teaching and learning goals established by the administrators at the school. Based on that, we found out that for effective, dynamic and meaningful learning to occur, we should design and structure the learning environment for the interaction of people involved (Mora, 2001). In this environment the following aspects are very important: activities, tasks, students’ interests, students’ motivation, materials, careful explanations on the student’s level, the assimilation of what we teach, the use of knowledge in an active and creative way to solve problems or to create students’ own situations through different exercises.

Teachers must make an effort to encourage their students to take in the new information meaningfully and to use it actively and coherently in a specific situation. According to Mora (2001: 51), “Meaningful learning gives learners the opportunity to associate the new learning task to previously learned material”. So they continue retaining new information all the time and using their experiences and previous knowledge. At this stage, we were conscious about the importance of meaningful learning as the basis of our school PEI. It is necessary to discuss and internalize the aspects we have seen above with our study group in order to encourage students to make real sense of the English learning.

FINDINGS

At the same time we started working in our study group, we began collecting data to know more about our main question. At this stage of the project, and taking into account the limitations of time, we decided to record a personal interview with teachers in order to learn their impressions and feelings concerning the last activity and corresponding to the work done up to that moment (see Appendix 4). With this instrument we could get important and interesting opinions from teachers. Here we used a coding process for categorizing qualitative data and for describing their implications. We established some initial categories through the consideration of the data. Later, while analyzing the data in detail, we moved to a more selective coding. The following diagram shows four categories derived from the data analysis:

1. Study Group to Update Professional Knowledge

Our data analysis reveals that a study group is an ideal way to keep abreast of educational research, pedagogical knowledge and language proficiency. It also provides opportunities for teachers to exchange ideas, try new strategies, and obtain feedback on teaching practices (Robb, 2000). Here we have one example of that statement taken from the teachers’ interviews:

.../ nos damos cuenta de cómo organizar mejor una clase / en qué estamos fallando / reafirmamos algunos conocimientos y reafirmamos la pronunciación de algunas palabras / estamos hablando el mismo lenguaje. (Lulú, interview).

We realize how we can better organize a class / what we are failing on / we reinforce some previous knowledge and the pronunciation of some words / we are speaking the same language. (Lulú, interview).

2. The Study Group to Build Positive Expectations Regarding Students’ Learning

We also found that teachers will have the chance to practice and analyze strategies in the study group and try them with students. In addition, teachers will have the opportunity to build deeper knowledge together, which is going to affect positively their teaching process. In our case, teachers argued that this practical knowledge made them feel more secure and innovative in their classes. As an example, a teacher said:

Desde luego que va a tener impacto en los estudiantes porque en el momento que para nosotros se nos den cosas nuevas / también las vamos a revertir en los alumnos. (Pedro, interview).

Of course it is going to have an impact on the students because in the moment we receive new things / we are also going to pass them on to the students. (Pedro, interview).

3. A Study Group as an Interesting and Enjoyable Interaction

We found that sharing mini-lessons and ludic activities provides a good environment for the group.

Playing the role of students is an enjoyable way to identify what activities they like to have in an English class. It also helped teachers identify the easiest and most useful teaching practices, taking advantage of our own resources at the school.

Fue una actividad bastante interesante por lo lúdica / porque permite la interacción de los educandos / es una forma muy sencilla pero muy práctica de trabajar. (Pedro, interview).

It was a very interesting activity because of the ludics / because it allows students’ interaction / it is a very simple but practical way of working. (Pedro, interview)

Teachers felt comfortable asking us for different materials and practical exercises to adapt and apply in their classrooms. Our colleagues were interested in improving their teaching practices and acknowledged the friendly atmosphere the study group generated, as shown in the two examples below:

Creo que la propuesta es muy interesante / el grupo está bien encaminado / bien dirigido / hay unos parámetros bien diseñados y se enfoca perfectamente con esta nueva metodología que estamos buscando implementar. (Pedro, interview).

I think this proposal is very interesting / the group is well-guided / well-directed / there are some well-designed parameters and it is perfectly focussed with this new methodology that we are trying to implement. (Pedro, interview)

El grupo de trabajo es muy bueno porque todos laboramos bastante / nos entendemos y no hay ninguna discusión malsana. (Yiya, interview).

This work group is very good because we all work a lot / we understand each other and there are no unhealthy discussions. (Yiya, interview).

4. A Study Group as a Tool to Develop Professional Qualities

Our study group developed professional qualities in the way that teachers who were experts in specific areas plan professional sessions into the school calendar; carry out a research activity about problem solving; share meaningful pedagogical experiences; have time to discuss, reflect, review, and study professional books, articles, and journals; provide feedback from different points of view. As Cambourne (1988, cited in Robb, 2000) says, teachers have the responsibility of negotiating the study group’s learning and assessment agenda with the facilitator. Teachers discussed their weaknesses and strengths in learning experiences and suggested adjustments. Their feedback validated what they were doing. A teacher said:

Es un grupo muy activo / es responsable / las monitoras cumplen a tiempo / tratan de que no se pierda el hilo de los temas que están manejando / se ha seguido el proyecto bastante bien. (Lulú, interview).

This is a very active group / it is responsible / the monitors fulfill on time / they try not diverting from the topics they are dealing with / the project has been done very well. (Lulú, interview).

Through the interviews we became more convinced of the idea of starting a professional study group. We could notice the interest of our colleagues in discussing pedagogical practices and learning together. Using those activities, we tried to apply some of the main aspects of the study group characteristics such as team and voluntary work, sharing pedagogical experiences, new practices implementation, and language abilities practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on time available and the processes that could be developed with our colleagues, the study group revealed some of the ways in which teachers’ development could be effected at the school. As Cambourne (1988, cited in Robb, 2000) holds, teachers must look for professional books, journal articles, and students’ literature to present mini-lessons using different strategies and background knowledge. In our case, we were a small group of teachers of English at high school discussing a pressing necessity: Which is the best way to improve our English teaching practices in our institution bearing in mind our students’ needs and interests and using the school’s resources? We took into account some conditions that Cambourne (Ibid) proposes for successful language acquisition; for example, printed material for reading and writing; demonstration or modeling mini-lessons, setting high expectations based on students’ needs to improve their performance in English.

As we decided to establish a study group through our participation in the in-service program in which we were enrolled, we questioned what happens at school as teachers engage in a study group in order to discuss and reach a general agreement regarding a common approach to teaching English. In this section we explain what answers could be given to that question.

This study has helped us to create a sense of teamwork like the unique way to establish important elements for the teaching-learning process. All our colleagues participated actively in the activities of the project. Therefore, we created a study group at the school as an instrument to improve teaching techniques and we hoped we could get a professional group of investigators. Teachers had the opportunity to explore different topics and record a list of ideas they wanted to explore more deeply. That affected their teaching in a positive way. In our case, teachers realized the importance of communicative approach principles and the need to apply them in classes.

Teachers’ attitudes changed because they recognized themselves as learners. They were more conscious of the students’ needs and interests. In this way communication among teachers will support their learning and identify their specific interest. For example, after the micro-teaching we did, our colleagues expressed their conviction that students like those kind of activities because they interacted among them using suitable material as the material we used in the activity.

The study group created expectations to change teaching practices. We observed in the micro-teaching that teachers were interested in the exercises they had to do and they asked us about the doubts they had. They enjoyed the class because they interacted and clarified some language aspects.

It is now hoped that the study group will move on to possible ways to solve difficulties or problems that learners might have and that it will involve all the members in research. Teachers might learn other strategies to develop communicative skills, share samples of students’ work, and learn from one another. In doing so, they will feel safe in their teaching practices.

As a final conclusion we want to say that without a doubt our study group is contributing to helping us reach general agreements. Teachers agreed in applying the communicative approach as the main focus to teach English, using the four basic skills in their teaching practices. That was the first consensus we got within the group. Teachers wanted to know other strategies to use in specific situations. Our colleagues are willing to continue working as a team.

PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

It is known by all of us that for teachers at public schools it is hard to work together or plan common teaching strategies mainly because of time restraints. In trying to determine the focus of our project, we reflected on the fact that we, teachers, were the experts and the best coordinators of our professional growth. Now we are sure the study group is the best decision to work as a team for improving our teaching and the students’ learning.

Study groups open the possibilities for having communication and mutual support from the administrators of the school. Teachers can negotiate the school curriculum according to their background and pedagogical experiences.

It is important to clarify that a successful study group must be voluntary; otherwise, it will be so difficult to get the goals teachers propose. We noticed that it is necessary for teachers to examine their class activities from the students’ point of view so that they can understand what to do and make sense of the new language in a specific activity.

A common obstacle schools face in the study group process seems to be finding time for planning and learning together. That was one of the limitations we had because some teachers had class at the meeting time and they needed to leave worksheets for the students. One of the teachers left the project after the second meeting. She considered she had nothing to do in the group because she was a Spanish teacher. The other teachers did not agree with that, but it was her decision. According to Rosenholtz (1989, cited in Murphy & Lick, 1998), what grade or subject a teacher teaches is secondary to the adult relationship forged around teaching. Furthermore, it was necessary to plan the schedule for our meetings in advance which was a little bit difficult because we could not find a common free hour among us and our colleagues. The Principal of the school urged us to do it and to leave an assignment for the students at the meetings time as a requirement to develop the project.

FURTHER STUDY

We and our colleagues created the sense of team work as a unique way to establish important elements for our teaching-learning process. We established a study group as a manner to improve teaching practices with the hope of eventually setting up a group of professional investigators.

We will keep analyzing how to help our students to reinforce their learning process. We want to make a contribution toward the improvement of the teaching-learning development through a study group organization in order to discuss and define a common approach to teaching English as a foreign language in our institution. We want to continue having a group for sharing teaching experiences and reaching the goal of a professional study group.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank fellow teacher John Jairo Viáfara for kindly helping to focus our project development as well as the teachers at school who willingly participated in the project and consented to its publication.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Gloria Álvarez Aguirre holds a B.A. in English and Spanish languages from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. She was recipient of a scholarship by University of New Mexico, U.S.A. Her studies have dealt with foreign language teaching including the current “Red PROFILE” in-service program. She teaches English at I.E.D. José Asunción Silva, Quirigua, in Bogotá.

Consuelo Sánchez Prada holds a B.A. in modern languages from the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas and she enrolled in the “Red PROFILE” in-service program in 2004. She works at I.E.D. José Asunción Silva and at Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. She has been interested in improving her teaching practice and language abilities through immersion in English native environments in the U.S.A.

REFERENCES

Birchack, B. et al. (1998). Teacher Study Groups. National Council of Teachers of English. Illinois, USA.        [ Links ]

Institución Educativa Distrital José Asunción Silva. (1998). Proyecto Educativo Institucional (PEI): Hoy hombres y mujeres en convivencia y comunicación para el mañana. Bogotá, Colombia.        [ Links ]

Mora, E. (2001). Promoting meaningful learning in the English class. How. A Colombian Journal for English Teachers, 8, 51- 56.        [ Links ]

Murphy, C. & Lick, D. (1998). Whole faculty study groups. California: Corwin Press, Inc.        [ Links ]

Robb, L. (2000). Redefining staff development. A collaborative model for teachers and administrators. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.         [ Links ]